If you can't afford kids, just don't have them

As a species, we continue to turn a blind eye toward our overpopulation of this planet. We give little thought to the 360,000 humans born each and every day. Isn’t it about time to adjust our perceived “holier than thou” human superiority attitude? If you can’t afford to support them, don’t have them. It isn’t society’s responsibility to support your children.

Surely America is not a contributor to the problem … think again. A human is born here every eight seconds. In our modern society, it costs $245,000 to raise a human from birth to age 17. Most humans are born into our shrinking middle class and those in poverty.

Here is Bonner County, the average household income is $41,900. Small wonder the rest of us are asked to support altruistic programs to meet the needs of children because their parents can’t afford them. Along with change comes the necessity to adapt. Large families are no longer needed to tend the family farms. Medical innovations are keeping us alive well into our 80s and 90s. Many of these humans end up in foster care, or at Kinderhaven. I wonder why that is?

You can aptly describe human overpopulation as an epidemic. Let’s just stop having them by the handfuls per family. Let’s stop rewarding single moms who have kids as a means of collecting a rather nice income.

Simply put, you shouldn’t have them if you can’t support them without public assistance.

LAURIE WADKINS

Priest River